Jeep Newb looking for guidance and direction on a '74 CJ5 Restore

[ChopDunkSplit]

To introduce myself, name is Cory. To be flat honest I'm not much of a grease monkey but I've always wanted to work and piddle around with older vehicles. Well the time has come, this will be my first restore. My grandfather has a '74 CJ5 that he put a lot of time and effort to restoring about a decade ago. He loaned it out to his son who drove it till it stopped running and never touched it again, basically set up collecting rust. Sad I know. I want to restore this jeep. My grandfather lives on social security now and although he wants to work on it, he doesn't have the money so I figured I'd set a budget of about $5k to start with and it would give me and my Paw a project to work on together.

That being said.... I have a build set up as far as paint wheels tires etc. But I'm not good with engines. I know he said the engine in a Straight 6 and needs some TLC possibly a rebuild. I'm not really looking to upgrade to a bigger engine but rather ideas of what I can do to for this V6 to make it run like a champ. What upgrades, add-ons, exhaust options, carbs, ANYTHING you guys can think of and/or recommend, I plan on spending a lot of time here maybe you guys will learn me a little something. Oh also looking to put a some lift under it, what brand do you guys prefer. All I want is to comfortably fit some 33's should I go with a body lift or suspension lift?

Sorry for the long post. Thanks in advance for any input, it will be appreciated greatly.

Cory J

[Roger]

Well Cory, welcome to MJR!

I would recommend you read through all the technical sections dealing with rebuilds, mechanics. Look for the threads dealing with CJ's and maybe even some of the Yj's since there are a lot of similarities. Take your time in deciding what you really want to do with the Jeep. As far as engines go, the stock 4.2 inline six engine is ideal for most Jeep applications. Maybe hard core sand dune or mud bogging would require a bigger engine.

Also, You should repost your questions in the technecial sections. some of the guys may miss your introduction

[USMC 0369]

[COLOR="sienna"]Somewhere, scattered throughout southern California... I also have a '74 CJ5. A website I find invaluable is: earlycj5.com

good luck, lets see some "before" pictures![/COLOR]

[Guest]

Welcome aboard! That's a huge "first" project.

Before you do any actual work, do this:

Break the project down into several smaller projects by category. Body work; motor; transmission; transfer case; front axle; rear axle....etc and make sure you put it all on 'paper' so you can refer back to it often. (I don't use paper I use my garage laptop) When you get your projects identified, break each of them down by doing research....as suggested, tech manuals and websites are a great place to accomplish this. Breaking each project down allows you to concentrate on one piece at a time without the stress of the whole project.
The projects need to be performed in a mostly logical order (within reason...not rigid) or you end up pulling/reinstalling parts a few times. That gets old REALLY quick! Last thing....know what you want the final product to look and perform like. A 'flexible' project can quickly become a money pit. There will be places along the way that you have to 'flex' the plan, but the project will drive those changes....not the builder.

Ok..that's my .02 have fun!
HOOYAH!!!
Dan

[ChopDunkSplit]

Welcome aboard! That's a huge "first" project.

Before you do any actual work, do this:

Break the project down into several smaller projects by category. Body work; motor; transmission; transfer case; front axle; rear axle....etc and make sure you put it all on 'paper' so you can refer back to it often. (I don't use paper I use my garage laptop) When you get your projects identified, break each of them down by doing research....as suggested, tech manuals and websites are a great place to accomplish this. Breaking each project down allows you to concentrate on one piece at a time without the stress of the whole project.
The projects need to be performed in a mostly logical order (within reason...not rigid) or you end up pulling/reinstalling parts a few times. That gets old REALLY quick! Last thing....know what you want the final product to look and perform like. A 'flexible' project can quickly become a money pit. There will be places along the way that you have to 'flex' the plan, but the project will drive those changes....not the builder.

Ok..that's my .02 have fun!
HOOYAH!!!
Dan

Thanks Dan, that's the kind of information I really need as this is my first restore. Very helpful indeed, never really thought about it like that but makes perfect sense. Thanks so far to everybody, every little bit makes me feel that more confident

[Guest]

You bet, Cory!

Make sure you take plenty of pics along the way, and set up a "project/build" thread so you can keep us up to date with your progress, and with problems you encounter along the way. Best of luck, and have a GREAT time with the build!

HOOYAH!!!
Dan

[1ATony]

HI Cory, Welcome to the site.